The No. 15 Georgetown University men’s soccer team (8-3-3, 4-0-1) shut out the DePaul University Blue Demons (2-6-6, 0-4-1) 3-0 on the road in Chicago on Oct. 18. Despite a slow start to the match, three Hoyas combined for 3 goals during a 40-minute stretch in the middle of the match. Sophomore goalkeeper Charlie DeMarco recorded his first career start and clean sheet with 1 save and multiple crucial claims.
For the Hoyas, play in the windy city got off to a shaky start. Georgetown’s expected dominance over a team with no conference wins was not present as the Hoyas took the field. Throughout the match, possession was split mostly evenly 53% to 47%. While the Hoyas sent up 13 shots with 5 on goal compared to DePaul’s 6 shots and 1 on goal, this was well below their average 16 shots per game and their average 0.469 shots on goal percentage at 0.385. The match’s most impressive performance came from DeMarco, who was given his first career nod to the Big East weekly honor roll this week.
With a slow start to play, Georgetown sent up their first shot of the match in the 9th minute, with a shot on goal from just inside the left corner of the box towards the left post by senior midfielder Julian Barrios Cristales. The attempt awarded the Hoyas a corner, which the team failed to capitalize on as sophomore defender Jack Lindimore missed the timing of his jump. Sophomore forward Mitchell Baker fired off the second shot of the match with a quick shot off a pass and turn that sailed wide and slow.
DePaul looked to have their first opportunity for a goal in the 20th minute but were stopped by Lindimore — and then almost awarded a penalty kick. Video assistant referee (VAR) review revoked the awarded penalty and landed Lindimore a yellow card, as play was just outside the box when Lindimore committed the foul.
In the 27th minute, the Hoyas got their first break of the day. Baker swooped in to grab a misplaced DePaul pass, dribbled past 3 defenders and forcefully sent the ball into the back right corner of the net past an unprepared DePaul keeper to put Georgetown up 1-0.
The Hoyas’ momentum picked up after their first goal, and in the next 7 minutes of play, the team sent up 4 shots — 2 from senior midfielder Zach Zengue off a corner with the first being blocked and the second sailing over.
DePaul sent up their only shot on goal for the day in the 40th minute; DeMarco recorded his third career save, almost effortlessly sticking his hand up to block a ball headed into the middle top of the goal.
Three minutes later, Georgetown responded with a successful shot on goal as junior midfielder Matthew Van Horn converted from close range off a Zengue assist, putting the Hoyas up 2-0 with less than three minutes remaining in the half.
The second half picked up with the same energy as the first, continuing a trend of DePaul physicality, Hoya players on the ground and no fouls called. Senior midfielder Max Viera, returning from a 2-game hiatus due to a red card, sent up the first shot of the second half in the 49th minute and the first shot on goal of the second half in the 58th minute — a skillful showing by both Viera and the DePaul keeper.
In the 65th minute, Baker saved a ball headed out and sent it to junior midfielder Mateo Ponce Ocampo, who fired it into the top right corner of the net from almost the same spot Baker had scored from earlier, putting Georgetown up 3-0. Ponce Ocampo’s goal marked the last shot on goal of the game for either side, and the rest of the match was carried out with missed opportunities and unnecessary physicality that caused co-captain senior midfielder Diego Letayf to step off the pitch in the 75th minute after being taken to the ground for the third time in the match.
While Georgetown arguably did not play their best game, the match’s 3 goal scorers showcase the team’s depth — especially without a Zengue goal. Letayf was named the Big East defensive player of the week and Baker was named the Big East offensive player of the week for their efforts against DePaul.
So far this season, Zengue has scored the most goals of any Georgetown men’s soccer player since all-time leading goal scorer Brandon Allen (CAS ’15) netted 16 goals in the 2012 campaign. Zengue is currently tied for fourth in the country in most goals scored with 12, is fifth in the country in points with 30 and was named to the MAC Hermann Trophy midseason watch list. In the 2012 campaign, Allen took 93 shots across 26 games with a 0.172 shooting percentage. Zengue has amassed 12 goals across 14 games with 49 shots and a 0.245 shooting percentage, giving him plenty of time to catch Allen and possibly the all-time leading season goal scorer, Ben McKnight, who recorded 18 goals during the 1994 season.
Georgetown men’s soccer Head Coach Brian Wiese said the game did not look as he would have hoped, but it was still a league victory.
“DePaul makes things difficult,” Wiese told Georgetown Athletics. “They’re playing for the playoffs and it wasn’t a pretty result for us, but scoring three goals to stay top of the table going into the final few games of the regular season is really all you can ask for. It was a little uglier than what we wanted but, overall, it was a gritty road performance and you need those in the league, so we’ll take it.”
The Hoyas return to Shaw Field on Saturday, Oct. 25 to face the Villanova Wildcats (5-4-5, 1-1-3 Big East) in their second to last home match of the regular season. Georgetown will look to continue their undefeated Big East record and climb the national rankings.
